Before the Ocean Swept Her Away (2020); Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival; Rest(less) Virtual Exhibition 2020, & SCAD Photography Department’s Open Studio Night 2020
In and out as the tides, she lives…
with her breath the tide goes out,
with her exhale the tide comes in…
In perfect unison with the moon,
she takes her place within the circle.
Catalyzing her spiritual growth, she is greeted by her shadow self. She delves into her subconscious through introspection and confrontation and releases her negative energies. She turns to set her intentions, to renew the fountains that fuel her femininity and fill her pools of emotion. She plants her seeds and radiates with youthful vitality...
…in this, her transition from Dark to New.
On par with the tides as on par with the moon …
To their mercy she fell,
before the ocean swept her away.
Here, she sat,
she sits,
she stood,
she stands,
she knelt,
she kneels.
Working unknowingly with and against, as is their natural order.
With the balance of life, so runs the tides and the cycles.
Visualizing a dream she has lived many times, she continues the journey towards her deepest, most desired intentions. The vibrations build and the rhythm of the waves grows stronger, enacting the base line of the ocean to take its place amongst the heavenly score. As she perseveres through her ritual of manifesting, obstacles seems to transmute from her minds eye. Her intuition becoming louder with each breath and between every cycle.
Walking along the beach, the pebbles that had known her for countless years, this lifetime and the ones before, she reflects. Here, she observes in meditation and watches in observation.
In the depths of her mind’s eye, she pulls memories from a past life.
Just out of reach and barely in vision, the replayed moments start to trigger all the feelings of old, emotions she has been forever left longing for, because nothing ever quite hits like it does the first time. Only pure, unadulterated joy begins to bubble up inside her and her soul starts to fill with warmth. Teetering on the border between this world and the next, she reflects,
she reminisces,
she loves.
The water glimmers in response, as she envisions the soft blanket of the cool water weaving in-between her fingers and caressing each of her limbs.
Now, she lives in this sacred glimmer.
Through the wind and among the breeze she breathes.
Everything she graces with her presence starts to give off the most beautiful auras of silver and gold. The celebration of the connection to her inner self is commencing and her abundance is finally being rewarded. She is filled with the purest sentiments of love, acceptance and feminine energy. She has peaked in her strength, and she now begins to look towards her future, the incoming waning set to begin. From the highs of stability, she sees how much there is yet to accomplish, she digests the mistakes committed to this singular sequence and prepares to let go, to once again cut the ties with what is not working and move on.
Carrying on towards her ultimate goals, thinking once again of new strategies and taking account of any necessary re-alignment,
she reflects, she adjusts and,
where needed,
she retreats.
This escape was essential, yearned for, begged for.
Calm she was,
content,
before the ocean swept her away.
Behind her encompasses all that needs forgiving. Work through it she must, in order to close out the continuation of this age-old narrative. She continues to exude her choice of acceptance; she acknowledges the easier road of least resistance and embarks upon the final stage. The inevitability of the winds of change making an appearance brings her calm, as old patterns are swept away. Her mind’s eye is now her entire being, living purely in a state of non-judgement.
As part of the waves, she lives on;
with her breath the tide goes out,
with her exhale the tide comes in.
In perfect unison with the moon, she has taken her place in the succession.
As a human she lived, before the ocean swept her away.
Writing by Anna Maria Brady, 2023. Website and writing account.